


It's a promise

by LetoaSai



Series: Riku's Sky [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Best Friends, Bilingual, Childhood Friends, Does this count as a confession?, Far too little to know what a crush is, Foreign Language, M/M, Rivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 09:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19248037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: Sora and Riku were always together and had been since they were children and Riku made a very serious promise. Not just anyone could be his Sky.





	It's a promise

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts 
> 
> Italics: Different language

“Riku!” Sora puffed, running after his friend on his tiny little legs. Racing was one of their favorite games but he’d yet to come out the winner. “Wait! E kū!” (1)

Riku looked back with a smirk, a snarky comment on the tip on his tongue until he saw how far behind Sora had lagged. He was panting and accidentally kicking stand with every step. The younger boy couldn’t keep up anymore and it was going to bring out tears any second now. 

“You should wait!” Sora hiccuped, bleary eyes closing as he still pressed on, determined to follow after Riku. Riku was the coolest and the strongest. Sora didn’t think it was so ridiculous to want to be like him. He tried hard every day to keep up with their games but every time he got a little better, Riku did too. 

He’d never catch up at this rate.

Sora wasn’t looking, too busy trying to get his breathing under control when he slammed into Riku’s chest. His arms going around him reflexively. 

“E kala mai iaʻu.” (2) Riku muttered, ruffling his hair in apology. He hated it when Sora was upset for real. Hated it more when he was somehow the reason for it. “Let’s sit for a little while, kay?” 

Sora sniffed, face buried against Riku’s shoulder as he nodded. 

Riku just heaved a sigh, sympathy fading as he slumped down into the sand, pulling Sora along with him. “Catch your breath, kay? We can make a sand castle or something for a while.”

“I wanna race.” Sora mumbled stubbornly as he pulled away, his face still blotchy and red from exertion.

“Well we’re not going to for a while.” Riku said in his usual bossy tone. “At least not until you feel better. You can’t race if you get hurt for real.” 

Sora scoffed, his teary expression not the least bit intimidating. “I’m fine!” 

“You’re not.” Riku shrugged. “Be quiet. I don’t want you getting hurt. We raced a lot today already.” 

“I’m not hurt.” Sora pouted, resting his chin on his knees as stared out into the ocean. He was tired and thirsty but he wasn’t going to complain. He couldn’t complain while trying to keep up with Riku. Riku never complained about anything. 

“Hey.” Riku poked his side when Sora didn't fall back into his normal chatter. “What’s the matter with you?” 

“Nothing…” 

Riku snorted and rolled his eyes just like the grown ups. “Wahahee. Tell the truth.” (3)

“Nuh-thing!” Sora said through clenched teeth. They had water in the boat, he’d have to walk such a long way to get it. This was no way to prove he could be a great adventurer. He wiped his nose on the back of his hand and stood up. 

“Where are you going?” There was just the slightest twinge of panic in his voice.

“I want water.” Sora grumbled, sniffing once. His legs were wobbly from all the running but at least he could breathe a little better. Racing was hard.

“What’s wrong?” 

Sora made an irritated sound and stomped back down the length of the beach to the boat. Riku was always a broken record when he was like this. He just wanted to stay best friends but he couldn’t keep up. He felt his throat tighten an tears threaten anew. He had to keep it together... 

“Sora.” He could hear Riku getting up to chase after him but he kept trudging along. 

“Stupid race.” Sora muttered, tears pouring down his face. “Stupid water so far…” 

“Sora.” Riku grabbed his arm and made him stop. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing!” 

“You’re crying.” Riku said quietly, looking as close to frantic as Sora ever saw him. He always got oddly panicky when Sora cried. 

“I want to!” 

Riku sighed and pulled Sora back into a tight hug. The small boy clinging tightly to the slightly smaller boy. “People don’t just like crying. Tell me what’s wrong.” 

“I don’t gotta!” 

“But can you?” Riku asked. “So we can make it better? Do you feel bad?” 

Sora reached up to wipe at his eyes but it was so hard with Riku in the way. “Yeah…” 

“Why?” 

“I can’t win the race…” 

Riku seemed confused, Sora could tell by the way he didn’t answer right away and how the hand that was patting his back stopped for a second before continuing. “It’s just a race, Sora. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not like i get something for winning.” 

“But i can’t win…” Sora cried a little harder, hiding his face against Riku’s shoulder again. “You’ll… you’ll leave without me!” 

“He aha? What are you talking about? Leave you where?” (4)

“When you leave.” Sora cried. “You’re gonna... gonna leave. You said so. You...you wanna go somewhere else. I...I…” 

Riku grunted, “Not today, Sora. It’s not like i can go anywhere today.” 

_“You would if you could!”_ Sora shouted, slipping into their native tongue as he got louder. He pushed away from Riku to look up at him with a heart broken stare. _“Ever since you met that weird man on the beach. You keep secrets now! You talk about leaving all the time!” ___

___“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to travel when i’m bigger.”_ Riku said softly. _ _

__Sora wept a minute more before he could suck in enough hair to continue. _“But if… if i can’t win a race, it means i can’t keep up. You’ll go without me!”__ _

__Understanding finally dawned and Riku grabbed Sora by his face roughly to pull him closer. Sora had half expected Riku to pinch or squeeze his cheeks but instead he just looked down at Sora with a strange look._ _

__“You’re so dumb.” Riku muttered, swapping languages again. “I wouldn’t leave you behind. You’re my best friend.”_ _

__“But i’m not fast yet. I’ll just…”_ _

__“Sora.” Riku repeated quietly. “Just cause i’m faster than you doesn’t mean i’m fast either. We’ll get better as we get bigger. Both of us. When we leave the islands we’ll go together.”_ _

__“I wanna stay with you…” Sora inhaled shakily. “I don’t care where. I love you.”_ _

__Riku smiled, a soft look not every kid got to see. Sora selfishly liked to think only the closest people to Riku ever got to see it. “Sora, other worlds wouldn’t be fun by myself. You have to come. I wouldn’t leave you behind, kay? We belong together because...we just do.”_ _

__“What if i can’t keep up?” Sora mumbled, sounding miserable._ _

__“Not everything is a race. You’re part of me, you know? I couldn’t just leave without you.” His gentle smile remained. “You’re my best friend and you can do other things i can’t. You’re way nicer than i am and you’re always there when i need you to be. You’re like…” He paused to think. “You’re like the sky, like your name. Always there, always making a new day better.”_ _

__Sora looked up at him, taking his turn to be confused. “Is that good?”_ _

__“Yeah.” Riku said. “It’s better to look forward to a new day then repeat an old one over and over. You’re like the sky for sure. Not just anyone can be as great as the sky.”_ _

__There was only a hesitation between them for a few seconds, both of them leaning towards the other._ _

__“And you won’t leave without me?” Sora finally asked, wiping his nose against his arm again. “Promise?”_ _

__“Promise.” Riku nodded. “Do you feel better now?”_ _

__Sora nodded once. “Ae.” (5)_ _

__Riku sighed, sounding like he’d also been upset and was relieved the mess was over. “Good. Do you still want water?” When Sora nodded his grin returned. “Wanna race to the boat?”_ _

__Sora’s head bobbed into another nod as Riku took off into a jog. “C’mon Kuʻu lani!” (6) he teased. “Since you wanna practice so bad!”_ _

__“Riku!” Sora sounded exasperated but he took off after Riku, feeling weirdly happy about the talk. Riku wasn’t gonna leave him behind. He had time to learn how to keep up and be just as good at adventuring as Riku was._ _

__They ran towards the boats, Riku tossing a smile over his shoulder as he watched Sora gaining on him, new determination sparking. Nothing was going to tear them apart._ _

__

___1\. Stop!_  
2\. i’m sorry.  
3\. Liar.  
4.What?  
5\. Yes  
6\. My sky 

**Author's Note:**

> Bilingual Characters please!! 
> 
> Once again, I used Hawaiian because it seemed so perfect for Destiny Island. I did however use a translator and i tried not to go too crazy with it. If any translations are wrong please feel free to correct me and i will fix it! Love these islanders.


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